


Go Fish! (Darcy/Jane)

by ReginaNocis



Series: Obscure Love [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: And also Kid's Games, Because Yes., Brief appearance by Pepper, F/F, SCIENCE!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-25
Updated: 2017-04-25
Packaged: 2018-10-24 00:00:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10730019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReginaNocis/pseuds/ReginaNocis
Summary: Darcy was pretty sure Jane knew how lucky she was to have picked her for an intern. A normal person would have left after the first day. But normal people were boring, and Darcy was glad she'd stuck around.





	Go Fish! (Darcy/Jane)

Darcy was pretty sure Jane knew how lucky she was to have picked her for an intern. Not many others would bend over backwards to make sure she got fed normally and saw some sunlight. Actually, normal people would have left after the first day. But normal people were boring, and Darcy was glad she'd stuck around. It meant that when Jane was invited to stay at Avengers Tower with Thor, she got to tag along. Now, instead of playing assistant to only Jane, she was the entire lab's assistant. Which included Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. A fact that she was very proud of.

Sure, Tony was a little shit most of the time, but Darcy could keep up. She was willing to bet that she was one of the only people Tony would actually listen to when told to sleep or eat at this point. (Pepper had given her pointers that were extremely helpful towards all scientists involved, and she was very grateful.) It also helped that she could use Thor as a reason to get Jane out of the labs. And no, she would not say that it hurt every time she used his name as an excuse.

Eventually, hanging out in the lab and being ignored got old. She branched out and made friends with the other Avengers gradually, always remembering to check on the people in the labs and keep them healthy. Clint was fun to hang out with, but he had some of the worst pranking ideas _ever._ She briefly wondered if he was suicidal when he shot Natasha with a Nerf dart from the vents one day, but she just rolled her eyes and ignored him. Natasha was secretly a gossip, but only when they were alone with no chance of being discovered. Steve was teaching her self defense for when she couldn't bring her taser with her, and Bucky was shockingly good at baking. 

Thor didn't stay with them for long. He got some kind of update from Asgard and left one night to help with some war there. He didn't return for several months, and Darcy was concerned for Jane's mental health because she really didn't seem to care. She didn't act any differently, and that was weird. Like, weirder than the fact that her boyfriend was from a different realm to begin with. She was pretty sure that if Jane had left without even saying goodbye, she would have been crushed.

The only change was that Jane stopped spending as much time in the labs and started spending a lot more time with Darcy. It was gradual, but noticeable.

“Darce, are you busy right now? I need to go clothes shopping, and Tony gave me his credit card. We can get you some things too!” she said on the third day without Thor. Darcy stared at her for a solid minute before nodding and grabbing her purse. Jane had never asked her to go shopping for fun before. And that's what this was, because Jane didn't need new clothes but Darcy kind of did.

Two days later, they went out for lunch together. When they came back, Tony was waiting for them while he ate.

“What, you're eating all on your own?” Darcy asked, feigning shock. Tony glared at her playfully, knowing that she was joking.

“Pepper is back, for your information. She's making me eat before she drags me to some meeting that I shouldn't need to go to,” he informed her.

“I'm pretty sure running a company includes going to some meetings,” Jane stated casually, putting their leftovers in the fridge and tossing Darcy a water bottle without having to ask if she wanted one.

“I don't run the company, I just own it. That should automatically mean I don't have to go to the meetings. I've got people for that. I've got _Pepper_ for that,” he replied immediately. 

“And that's why she makes you go to them,” Darcy pointed out. “Because you're lazy and a dick. And also because hearing you whine about it is hilarious, since we all know you jump whenever Pepper tells you to.”

“That is just not true,” Tony argued. He was glaring at her again, and she was just grinning. This was what she lived for, here at the Tower.

“Tony, are you done yet?” Pepper asked, walking into the room. Both Jane and Darcy laughed as he stuffed the last of his sandwich into his mouth and nodded, grabbing his jacket on the way to the elevator.

“Way to be a man, Tony!” Darcy called after him, winking to Pepper when she gave her a confused look. Tony flipped her off as the elevator door closed, and they could hear Pepper telling him off for it.

“So that was fun. Are you busy tomorrow afternoon? There's that new movie that I wanted to see,” Jane said, turning to her. Darcy frowned.

“Okay, what's up? You're never interested in hanging out with me, and we've been spending time with each other almost exclusively this week. Is this because Thor left? Because I'm not a good replacement boyfriend since I'm not a dude,” she replied.

“No. I just thought... we're friends, right? This isn't just a work relationship. And we don't ever spend any time together, you're right. So I wanted to fix that. I can't afford to lose any more friends. You and Erik are the only ones I've been able to rely on lately,” Jane explained.

“What, you didn't make friends with Tony and Bruce while you're down there working? I would've thought you guys had inside jokes and everything by now. Clint and I do,” Darcy asked, surprised.

“There isn't much time for talking down there while the science is happening. But I've had more breakthroughs since moving here than I had the entire time we were in New Mexico. Which isn't important,” she replied, shaking her head. “The point is that I want to spend more time with you, so I am. But if you'd rather not spend time with me, I understand.”

“Jane, I love spending time with you. That's not even an issue. I was just confused, I guess,” she told her. She was still confused, but she wasn't going to push the girl she'd had a crush on from day one away. She wasn't _stupid._

After that, they did something together almost every day. Jane still spent most of her time in the lab, and Darcy was working on her own little experiments of the social variety (Steve and Bucky were meant to be together, nobody would convince her otherwise), but they always spent at least an hour together doing other things. Darcy knew better than to expect it to last, and she was right. There was some big breakthrough in the lab, and Jane went back to not having time for her.

She'd be lying if she said it didn't hurt, but she had known it was coming. She  _had._ And she didn't miss the looks Clint and Steve gave her every time she glanced at her phone to check for a text from Jane. There never was one. She threw herself into setting up Steve and Bucky, even recruiting Nat and Pepper to help her. And when that was finally accomplished, she started spending more time in the labs. She was down there when the final breakthrough happened. 

“Oh my god, it's all connected!” Jane exclaimed, jumping up from her chair and spinning her screen around to show everyone else.

“Okay, I know what you're talking about, but for the sake of everyone else you should explain in really simple words that are easy to understand,” Darcy replied, trying not to feel stupid. Jane shot her an amused look.

“The same energies that power the Bifrost that I've been studying for over a year are inside of the scepter that you've both been studying. Whatever is powering that thing also allows travel between the realms. It's all connected,” she explained.

“But didn't Loki make the scepter?” Darcy asked, confused. She ignored the annoyed look Tony gave her and the amusement of Bruce, focusing her attention on Jane.

“No. He's just been using it. Or he was... it's complicated. But the scepter was given to him, according to Thor, by some guy called Thanos. Nobody is sure what he used when making it. But this is the closest we've come to figuring it out! When Thor comes back, we can just ask him what powers the Bifrost,” she answered, also ignoring the other two.

“That's great! So does that mean you've got time for me again? Because I was thinking of having a game night tonight, and it would just be sad for me to do that alone. Everybody else has a date,” she asked, smiling. Jane's face fell when she realized she'd been ignoring her again.

“Oh my god, Darcy, I'm sorry. I'm such a horrible gi- friend, a horrible friend,” she replied. Darcy noticed the slip but didn't comment, wondering what she'd been about to say.

“Nah, it's okay. I knew what you were doing, and I managed to accomplish my goal in the few days you've been busy. While you guys had locked yourself down here, I managed to get Steve and Bucky to finally admit their feelings for each other!” she announced proudly. Nobody applauded her, but she didn't expect them to understand how monumental it was. They were down here missing the sexual tension while she had to live with their flirting and denial.

“That's great! I know you've been working towards that,” Jane replied. Then she bit her lip as if she didn't want to ask her next question. “You said that everyone else is going out. Why not you?”

“Well I _thought_ I was going to have to drag you guys out of here to finally get some sleep, but it seems like that's not necessary anymore. I didn't make plans because I hate having to cancel last minute. Plus, nobody actually interested me,” she answered with a shrug. So the last part was a blatant lie, but nobody could prove it. Tony's knowing smirk went by ignored, she hoped. 

“Oh. Well, I'm up for a game night. What ones do you have?” Jane asked. Darcy held up a deck of cards with a small smile.

“You're exhausted, so we'll play kid games. Something like War and Go Fish. Sound good?” she replied, grinning. Jane nodded, gesturing for her to lead the way.

Halfway through their third game of Go Fish, Jane was mostly just staring at Darcy instead of concentrating on the game. It was making her self conscious. Did she have something on her face? Finally she just laid her cards down and stared right back.

“I don't get it. Did I say something funny?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Um... go fish,” Jane replied, blushing slightly. Darcy fought back a smile, willing to play this little game.

“Okay. Are you staring at me because you're too tired to keep playing and don't want to admit it?” she asked.

“Go fish,” was the answer.

She stopped to think. “Is it because of what I said earlier, about everyone else having plans but me?” she asked. Jane nodded, gesturing for her to go on. “Because I didn't want to make a date?” Another nod. “You want to know why.”

“Yes. I've been wondering about that for hours now. You said that everyone else found dates, but you purposefully didn't. Was there someone you wanted that you couldn't get?” Jane answered. Darcy hesitated but nodded. “An agent?”

“Go fish,” she replied, grinning.

“One of the Avengers?” Jane asked. Darcy shook her head. “Someone who lives in the tower here with us?” The grin she gave her was enough of an answer. “Was it... was it me?” Jane asked in a small voice, eyes actually hopeful.

Darcy stared at her, unsure of what to say. Because  _yeah_ it was her, but she hadn't thought there was a chance in hell that Jane would return her feelings. The hope was plain as day, and it was confusing. Until recently, Jane hadn't even seemed to care enough to spend more than a few minutes eating with her when forced. 

“Sorry, that was a stupid question,” Jane whispered, taking the silence as a negative answer. She picked her cards back up to resume the game, but instead she ended up with a lap full of assistant, who tossed the cards back to the table and kissed her.

It was a long kiss, full of emotion and promises. Darcy didn't want it to end, but air was a necessity. Also, some explaining would probably be a good idea.

“Of course it's you! Do you know how long I've been in love with you? But I thought you were with Thor, and then when it was obvious you didn't care about him much, I assumed you were just too engrossed in your work to be interested in anyone. Hell, you barely spent any time with me. I thought I was just an annoyance most of the time,” she explained. Jane stared at her incredulously.

“Thor is like my older brother, Darce. I was never in _love_ with the guy. He just had a lot of answers to my science questions. And I've been trying to flirt with you for months now! Ever since Tony told me there was more of a chance with you than I'd thought. I'll have to thank him for that later, don't let me forget. Why did you think I started spending so much time with you? I was hoping you'd catch on and tell me that you felt the same way. I wasn't quite brave enough to say the words myself,” Jane told her, blushing at the end.

“Wait, Tony caught on before you did?” Darcy asked, raising an eyebrow. Jane's blush darkened, which was just cute in Darcy's opinon.

“Maybe. He started a betting pool in the lab on whether or not we'd get our acts together and confess. I think Bruce just won quite a bit of money, actually,” Jane admitted. Darcy actually laughed at that.

“Good. Maybe he'll use it to buy clothes that actually fit instead of the ones that are two sizes too big. Now, were you invested in this game? Because I can think of better things to do,” she replied.

There was no more talking about that, and the game was left forgotten on the table. But 'Go Fish' became their new favorite joke from then on, although nobody else understood why. It tended to annoy Tony the most, so Darcy made sure she used it in front of him as often as she could.

“Hey Jane, do we have any more coffee down here?” she asked sweetly, shooting a quick grin at Tony since she already knew the answer.

“Go fish!”

 


End file.
